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Cops Beat Homeless Man To Death

(Don't watch the video if you have kids in the room, or have a weak stomach)

The city surveillance video that shows a group of Fullerton police
officers beating a homeless mentally ill man to death last year was
finally released today, laying to rest any argument that Kelly Thomas
was a threat to officers.

The shocking video, which was combined with an audio recorder worn by
one of the police officers on the night of July 5, 2011, was shown in
court today, then later released to the media.

“Now you see my fists?” Fullerton police officer Manny Ramos asked Thomas while slipping on a pair of latex gloves.

“Yeah, what about them?” Thomas responded.

“They are getting ready to fuck you up,” said Ramos, a burly cop who appears to outweigh Thomas by 100 pounds.

Moments later, as Thomas is standing while Ramos is ordering him to
get on his "fucking knees," Fullerton cop Joseph Wolfe, who is not
charged in the case, walks up and starts beating his legs with a baton.

Then Ramos gets into the act and Thomas takes off running, moving out of the frame of the camera.

The camera, operated by a dispatcher at the station, then moves
toward the beating, showing Ramos and Fullerton cop Jay Cicinelli on top
of Thomas as Thomas repeatedly apologizes and telling them he is unable
to breathe.

The cops keep telling him to put his hands behind his back and lay on
his stomach, but they are both laying on top of him, making it
impossible to even breathe, much less move.

As the video continues, one of the cops can be seen kneeing him.

"Please, I can't breathe," Thomas pleads as the officers keep telling him to put his hands behind his "fucking back."

The cops keep telling him to "relax" to which he responds, "I can't, dude."

More cops eventually arrive and a little more than four minutes into the video, they start tasing him.

And a little after five minutes into the video, as three cops are
piled on top of him, beating him, tasing him, one cop looks up at
another cop who just arrived on the scene and says, "help us."

At one point he yells out, "Dad, they are killing me."

Even after seven minutes into the video, when six cops are on top of
him and all Thomas is doing is crying for his father, they keep telling
him to "relax."

Last year,
Ron Thomas, a retired Orange County Sheriff's deputy, said the City of
Fullerton offered him $900,000 to just go away, which would have allowed
the two cops to remain on the force unpunished for killing his son.

Thomas was pronounced dead on July 10, five days after the beating that left him in a coma.

The cops weren't placed on administrative leave as is customary in a
death of a suspect until August 2. And only because the community was
outraged.

But it's no doubt city and police officials watched the above video
that same night. They even acknowledged allowing the officers to watch
the video to complete their incident reports.

I guess we should be relieved they never destroyed the video as cops are so used to doing.

During today's hearing,
a crime scene investigator named Dawn Scruggs testifed that Ramos and
Cicinelli were out of breath and in disbelief after killing him,
apparently trying to sway the court into believing Thomas deserved to
die.

But anybody who sees the video can see he did nothing to deserve the beating.

Ramos is being charged with second degree murder and faces up to 15
years in prison. Cicinelli is being charged with involuntary
manslaughter and faces up to four years in prison.

It is extremely rare for any cop to receive prison time for their crimes.

In the photo below, Ramos demanded treatment for his injured elbow as Thomas lay dying a few feet from him.

While the above video is just over eight minutes long, a 33-minute
video was shown to the court today. The other portions of the videos can
be seen on this site.

The video ends with medics taking Thomas from a spot
covered with a large bloodstain, while police gather their equipment and
discussed the struggle.

"We ran out of options so I got the end of my Taser and I probably
... I just start smashing his face to hell," Cicinelli said, according
to the transcript provided by prosecutors. "He was on something. Cause
the three of us couldn't even control him."

Earlier in the day, Fullerton Fire Capt. Ron Stancyk testified that
he found the shirtless, handcuffed Thomas lying on the ground. His skin
was ashen, his hair and face bloody, and he was breathing slowly.

"Nothing was being done," Stancyk, a Fullerton paramedic with 20 years of experience, told the court.

IMO they are charged to appease the general public when we become aware of these cases. Trouble is, the police are basically protected -- almost immune for their actions by corruption inside the departments.Just yesterday (and I wish I could remember in what city), an ex-police officer was sentenced to 75 years in prison for abducting a first-day-on-the-job schoolteacher for rape and assault by gunpoint in an abandoned building.(?)

Quoting brookiecookie87:

I see Officers indicted/charged with crimes often enough-But almost never convicted of anything. Kind of like these two Officers are being charged with crimes. Though I am doubtful anything will come from it.

But again-I do hope to be proven wrong.

Quoting MeAndTommyLee:

I live in a major city where it is commonplace and scores of police, including one chief in particular were indicted and facing federal prosecution for multiple MAJOR excessive force and brutality cases spanning 2 decades.

Quoting brookiecookie87:

Quoting MeAndTommyLee:

I can't watch that again. The anger and rage I feel is too much for me handle. This is yet another abuse of power by the police, While all police may not be like this, I find more and more evidence that the bad ones outnumber the good. Cases such as this should be a rarity, but it's become commonplace. It's sad, despicable and I pray for justice for the deceased and his family.

I wouldn't say that this is commonplace.

But what does seem commonplace is during events like these the officers get away scotch free. Or something silly like they get time off with pay for awhile.

I think what troubles me the most is the great length they go to protect Officers that act like this. I mean offering his Father $900,000 to 'go away'. That is horrible.

If Officers like this were held accountable for their actions-Events like this wouldn't happen. Or wouldn't happen nearly as much.

We shouldn't direct our anger at Police in general (Because like you said not all Police Officers are like this) but we should direct our anger at the Policie Officers who do act this way.

But I agree with you that I hope for Justice. And I am glad the Dad turned down the $900,000 hush money. Because that is not justice (Especially since we are the ones paying for it).

Unpopular opinion I'm sure- But I can see both sides. First, he didn't seem mentally ill. That sounds like a play on words by the media. Mentally ill could've meant "drug addict" for all we know. And he was being very insubordinate. He also didn't just stand up in the beginning. It looked like he tried to run off, and so then the cops ran after him. And, like the cop said, he probably was on something. I don't know how many here have ever had a physical confrontation with some one high on those kinda' drugs, but they have SUPER strength. So I could see why it would take so many officers and so much physical force to get him under control. And he was struggling and fighting them, making it difficult to gain control of him.... which caused the police to instinctively, and heat of the moment-adrenaline rush use more force, so much more that they probably weren't even aware of how much force they were using in that moment. It's like when your adrenaline kicks in and you 'black out' and aren't aware of your own strength. This man was probably high and excercising super human strength, causing the officers adrenalines to kick in & overpower the situation.

On the other hand, they still seemed to be very unprofessional. The man putting the gloves on was just the icing on the cake. It doesn't seem professional to me for them to talk like that and make threats like that to people for no apparent reason. I definitely think they could've handled it better. I think they overreacted and I feel for that man who had to die that way. I won't say all the force of the officers wasn't needed if this man was in fact on drugs. But all the violence, that wasn't needed

Why do you think the cops putting exam gloves on is unprofessional? Cops come into contact with bodily fluids of other people on a pretty routine basis. They have every right to protect themselves against that. The victim in this case could have had a wound (even a very minor one can bleed) before the cop initiated contact, prompting him to glove up to reduce his risk of exposure. That is actually professional behavior. (i am referring strictly to the putting on of the exam gloves)

Quoting DuchessTara:

Unpopular opinion I'm sure- But I can see both sides. First, he didn't seem mentally ill. That sounds like a play on words by the media. Mentally ill could've meant "drug addict" for all we know. And he was being very insubordinate. He also didn't just stand up in the beginning. It looked like he tried to run off, and so then the cops ran after him. And, like the cop said, he probably was on something. I don't know how many here have ever had a physical confrontation with some one high on those kinda' drugs, but they have SUPER strength. So I could see why it would take so many officers and so much physical force to get him under control. And he was struggling and fighting them, making it difficult to gain control of him.... which caused the police to instinctively, and heat of the moment-adrenaline rush use more force, so much more that they probably weren't even aware of how much force they were using in that moment. It's like when your adrenaline kicks in and you 'black out' and aren't aware of your own strength. This man was probably high and excercising super human strength, causing the officers adrenalines to kick in & overpower the situation.

On the other hand, they still seemed to be very unprofessional. The man putting the gloves on was just the icing on the cake. It doesn't seem professional to me for them to talk like that and make threats like that to people for no apparent reason. I definitely think they could've handled it better. I think they overreacted and I feel for that man who had to die that way. I won't say all the force of the officers wasn't needed if this man was in fact on drugs. But all the violence, that wasn't needed

This is disgusting! The man told them he couldn't breathe, I hope all of them are charged! It is OUTRAGOUS and I wish no GOOD cop harm, but this is too much. These are the THUGS people should be scared of! Rest In Peace Kelly!

He is schizophrenic. They later found out that one of the cops knew him and his family and knew he was schizophrenic. Im pretty sure the autopsy/any tests that were performed showed no drug use but i am not too sure on the part i could be wrong.

Thomas had no illicit drugs or alcohol in him at the time of the incident, according to the toxicology report.

Quoting DuchessTara:

Unpopular opinion I'm sure- But I can see both sides. First, he didn't seem mentally ill. That sounds like a play on words by the media. Mentally ill could've meant "drug addict" for all we know. And he was being very insubordinate. He also didn't just stand up in the beginning. It looked like he tried to run off, and so then the cops ran after him. And, like the cop said, he probably was on something. I don't know how many here have ever had a physical confrontation with some one high on those kinda' drugs, but they have SUPER strength. So I could see why it would take so many officers and so much physical force to get him under control. And he was struggling and fighting them, making it difficult to gain control of him.... which caused the police to instinctively, and heat of the moment-adrenaline rush use more force, so much more that they probably weren't even aware of how much force they were using in that moment. It's like when your adrenaline kicks in and you 'black out' and aren't aware of your own strength. This man was probably high and excercising super human strength, causing the officers adrenalines to kick in & overpower the situation.

On the other hand, they still seemed to be very unprofessional. The man putting the gloves on was just the icing on the cake. It doesn't seem professional to me for them to talk like that and make threats like that to people for no apparent reason. I definitely think they could've handled it better. I think they overreacted and I feel for that man who had to die that way. I won't say all the force of the officers wasn't needed if this man was in fact on drugs. But all the violence, that wasn't needed

He was trying to break into cars(they found him trying to open a car door). So obviously he was in the wrong for that. But when they approached him one of the cops knew him and that he was schizophrenic and this STILL happened.

Quoting parentalrights1:

What reason did they give for approaching the man in the first place.

then what reason did they give for the attack? Surely they gave some excuse right?

The dad clarified that statement with stating his son (Kelly Thomas) had Schizophrenia.

And if someone tells a schizophrenic, 'see these gloves they are about to fuck you up' it makes sense that he might try to run. But even if that was not the case.

Even a normal healthy person should not be beaten to Death for running.

And I think that 'SUPER' strength could have just came from Survival instinct. This guy obviously feared for his life. "Dad, they are killing me!", "Dad Save Me!"-I think he might have believed they were going to kill him.

Quote:

Ultimately, Kelly Thomas died because of the force of the officers' compression on his chest, according to the District Attorney. The pressure made it impossible for Thomas to breathe, according to the DA's report.

"When they kept him on his back as long as they did, he couldn't spit up that blood, so it killed his brain," said attorney Garo Mardirossian.

In transportation center surveillance video played for the court Monday, Thomas can be heard screaming, "I can't breathe."

I imagine this 'SUPER' human strength was coming from his instinct to Survive. If he suffocated to death on his own blood-I imagine it was not fast. He obviously was able to tell them he could not breath. He had the time to cry to his Dad for help. This was a slow death painful death. I admit I never died before-But if someone was killing me and at the same time was telling me to 'relax'. I might panic too (Without being a schizophrenic).

I haven't heard word from the coroner or autopsy that he was on drugs. I imagine the Defense would be leading with that if it was the case.

Quoting DuchessTara:

Unpopular opinion I'm sure- But I can see both sides. First, he didn't seem mentally ill. That sounds like a play on words by the media. Mentally ill could've meant "drug addict" for all we know. And he was being very insubordinate. He also didn't just stand up in the beginning. It looked like he tried to run off, and so then the cops ran after him. And, like the cop said, he probably was on something. I don't know how many here have ever had a physical confrontation with some one high on those kinda' drugs, but they have SUPER strength. So I could see why it would take so many officers and so much physical force to get him under control. And he was struggling and fighting them, making it difficult to gain control of him.... which caused the police to instinctively, and heat of the moment-adrenaline rush use more force, so much more that they probably weren't even aware of how much force they were using in that moment. It's like when your adrenaline kicks in and you 'black out' and aren't aware of your own strength. This man was probably high and excercising super human strength, causing the officers adrenalines to kick in & overpower the situation.

On the other hand, they still seemed to be very unprofessional. The man putting the gloves on was just the icing on the cake. It doesn't seem professional to me for them to talk like that and make threats like that to people for no apparent reason. I definitely think they could've handled it better. I think they overreacted and I feel for that man who had to die that way. I won't say all the force of the officers wasn't needed if this man was in fact on drugs. But all the violence, that wasn't needed

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